The rest, including Milan's San Siro stadium - home to AC Milan and league
leaders Inter Milan - require varying degrees of work to bring them up to
scratch.

The Italian soccer league said its officials will meet Thursday in Rome with
the presidents of all 42 teams in Serie A and Serie B - Italy's top two leagues.
The stadiums subject to the spectator ban will be announced then.

Other measures agreed by the cabinet include a ban on the block sale of
tickets to away fans, a beefing-up of stadium bans for those involved in
violence at grounds, including under 18s, and a ban on financial or working
relationships between clubs and fan associations.

"In the decree (...) it is explicitly said that matches in stadiums which are
not in line with regulations will be played behind closed doors," deputy
Interior Minister Marco Minniti told a news conference after the cabinet
meeting.

"It is clear that we have here very serious measures, I would say without
precedents. Maybe this was the only possible answer to such a tragic event," he
said.

Fierce critismThe plan drew fierce criticism from figures within the
world of Italian football, who accused the government of a knee-jerk reaction to
the incident.

The president of twice Italian champions Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis, said
a "fascist climate" had descended on the country since the policeman's death at
a Serie A match between Catania and Palermo last Friday.

"The closed stadiums are a ridiculous idea. They can't impose these
regulations on us. We must go on strike," the Serie B club's president told
Italian media.

The mayor of Livorno, whose team play in the top-flight Serie A, said clubs
will "almost certainly" go on strike after the government's measures, and warned
Italian football risked more damage to its image when European games resume next
week.

"Livorno still doesn't know whether next week's UEFA Cup match against
Espanyol will be played behind closed doors," said Alessandro Cosimi.

The presidents of clubs in the top two divisions Serie A and Serie B will
meet to discuss the anti-hooligan plan at a meeting of the Italian Football
League on Thursday.

Clubs fear the financial consequences of having to reimburse season-ticket
holders denied access to matches they have paid for, and fans and players said
the game needed the atmosphere of a live crowd.

"It would be better to halt play for another week because playing behind
closed doors would be the death of football," Milan captain Paolo Maldini said
of the idea of playing matches without the fans.

The president of Palermo warned that the government's unyielding stance would
fail to curb the violence.

"They have drawn up these measures without listening to the clubs that have
been fighting violence for years," Maurizio Zamparini said.

"Even if we close the stadiums, these criminals will do the same outside."

The policy will hit Italy's lower divisions even harder than Serie A. Eight
out of 11 matches in the next round of Serie B matches are expected to be played
behind closed doors if the government pushes the measures
through.